Door silencer



H. N. HOLM DOOR SILENCER Feb. 20, 1951 Filed July 27, 1946 FIG! FIG.2

FIG.3

FIG.7

INVENTOR HARRY N- HOLM ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,542,140 '"DOQRZSILE'NCER Harry N .JHolm, Minneapolis,"Minn. A-pplication. J. 11.13127, 1946,--%Ser ial' N0.i686;647

1 Claim. 1

,This invention relates-to .doorsilencers adapted to assure proper-and quiet closingv of a hinged door when the same ;is initially-swung towards closed position oreven forcibly slammed.

:It is ,an object -.of my invention to provide comparatively simple but highly efiicient, apparatus for checking the forceful closing or slamming-.01 :a hinged door; for ,substantially eliminating noise during the closing action and for positively engagingand-properly closing the door after it has 'beenchecked-and swungbeyond a predetermined. position.

3More-1-specifica1ly, it is .anobject toprovide closely cooperating mechanism which first. causes the .free edge of .a door, during its swinging towards closed position, to be yieldably engaged,

, arrested: ingslamming movementand thereafter,

invention will be more apparent from the following description made in connection -with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout :the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is an upper perspective viewqshowingan embodiment of my apparatus operat ve y mounted .upon the door frame-eta ver.tically hinged. door withitheldoor being,-.-shown in. paria lyuclose t'p sition, .J'ust prior r ,to engagement .iof sthe ,free marginal portion thereof with r-the striker member .of my doors-engaging and closzing mechanism.

.Fig. 2 is .a somewhat ",diagramm-atical =view mostlyin top .plan, on a-smaller-scale, showing the essential mechanism of my apparatus, during initial and subsequent.:operationthereof.

Fig. .13 isv a side. elevation showing ,a, preferred formof dooreengaging .and closing mechanism in its door-receiving position effected through normalwopeningof the door from closed position. Fig. 4.is1a vertical section taken longitudinally through my -cooperating, doorechecking mechanism.

lEig. bis-atop plan yiewshowing. myapparatus as it .ispositioned when thedooris .iullylolosed.

.;Fig. 16 @is a;.fragmentary,..rear .elevationof the back of .the .free. corner of the door-showing a noiseless. strikerpadmounted thereon; and

Fig. .7.is a.cross..-section.taken on the line -1--1 of .Fig. 6.

Asshown .in the drawings, an .embodimentof my. apparatus .isapplied to a. door and doorway of eonventionaltype, most of .my apparatus being mounted upon .theouter vfacing and .beam of the doorframe-DF.

..My..apparatus includes a. spring-actuated ,doorengaging .and closing .mechanism .which .conveniently can ..be,.mountedr at .the upper portion ofthedoorframeiacingeand which, as..shown,-.is

'- provided -with .a horizontally bifurcated bracket 10 having a vertical attachment flange 'lfldiixed to the doorway. facing .andhaving vupper and lower .outwardly and ..horizontally extending,

paralIeLarm-s lob and .l.0c..respective1y. "Between the .outer ends of .arms lob and H10, adoor-engaging. and closin iever in the form of amoreor less .arcuateplate ispivotally mo.unted,..as shown, being .fulcrumed .below and to -the uppersupporting arm lllbby .means of. a large diameter. rivet I.2 ,.abearin collar 1.2a being fixed to the medial portion .of lever .II .for effecting the freeswinging ,of 'thismechanism. Near the outer end-of lever H and atopposite sides thereof, axially aligned, .vertical. spring attachment posts I3 are provided, eachbeing.connectednear its outer extremity with. a horizontally.extending contractile spring l4, .saidspringsheing disposed in parallel horizontal relationship .and being anchoredat their ,inner ends tobracket [-0 by meansof verticallyaligned anchoring posts .15, one of which is secured .to the upper arm Nb of the bracket and the other of which issecured to the .lower arm ,Hlco'f the'bracket. The springs I4 are. as nearly .as possible, identical in construction,

length "anditension solthat the inward pull .upoh

posts 13* abovepand .below'j lever plate I l is equalized.

.Lever .II at its .inner and .carries a cushioning striker disc l6 .which is constructed from somewhat compressible. and non-resonant material .such as vulcanized .rubber and this disc .is positioned, as shown in Fig. .2, to be disposed with onlya portionof .its .periphery (preferably less than .180 degrees) in the path of .thefree edge of the door during a fragment of the closingmovemen't of the door, which precedes slightly, swinging of the door into opposition to .the door ,jamb. .Therelationshippf the fulcrum l2 forlever plate I] .and the connections or .contractile springs .14 .is such that .a deadlcenter positioning is obtained as clearly shown in Fig. 2, when the lever is disposed in substantially its. extreme outermost position with striker disc l6 positioned as described for engaging the free end of the door. At the outer end of the lever II, a door-retaining and closing roller I! is pivotally mounted on a vertical axis, preferably being provided with an axial sleeve bearing l'la which is journaled on a depending pivot post l8 fixed to the outer end of the lever. The roller I1 is constructed from a suitable non-resonant, somewhat compressible material such as vulcanized gum rubber. This roller preferably does not engage directly against the outer surface of the door but to eifect proper and positive closing and silencing of the door, rolls upon a bent or inclined camming plate l9 which is adjustably secured to the upper portion of the outer surface of the door, having as shown, an attachment foot l9a which may be rigidly connected with the door by screws or other means. The plate 19 preferably is made of relatively rigid but bendable sheet metal having some degree of resiliency but capable of retaining its shape when bent by force to a predetermined angular position with reference to the vertical outer surface of the door. Adjustment of this camming plate l9 may be made first by its point of attachment on the door and secondly, by varying the angulation or bending, as has been described.

The mechanism previously described comprises an important cooperating part of my mechanism but will not, of itself, produce the highly important and desired combinative results of silencing or checking the door during the final closing thereof.

cooperatively associated with my door-engaging and closing mechanism is a cushioning and checking mechanism mounted as shown, from the upper beam of the doorway and disposed behind the doorstop S. This mechanism, as shown, comprises a horizontal dashpot cylinder 20 having its axis disposed substantially parallel with the door jamb and having slidably mounted therein, a piston 25 provided with a sealing ring or pump washer 2 la for sealing engagement with the interior of the cylinder. Piston 2| is urged to protracted or outward position by a light spiral spring 22 interposed between the rear end 20a of cylinder 23 and the rear of the sealing washer 29a. Cylinder 20, at its forward end is provided with a relatively large air escape port Zilb and at its rear end is provided, as shown, with an axially disposed ball-accommodating valve port 2530 terminating at its outer end in the restricted air intake passage. A ball 20c is loosely accommodated in passage 20c and is retained in the passage by slightly swedging the inner edge of the passage. An outwardly tapered, restricted air discharge port or by-pass 20] is formed through the rear end 20a of the cylinder effective to restrict the discharge of air from behind the piston and so check the closing action of the door when the piston is forced inwardly or rearwardly within cylinder 20.

Piston 2! has attached to the forward face thereof, an axially and horizontally extending thrust transmitting rod 23 which is mounted in a relatively thick slide bearing 2611 provided by the forward end of the cylinder. In the fully extended position of rod 23, the end of the rod is disposed a short distance, say from one and one half to two and one half inches, outwardly and forwardly of the door jamb and in osition to be abutted by an abutment member 24 mounted on the inner vertical face of the door immediately after the free edge of the door has engaged striker disc 16 and tripped the lever H beyond dead center position. The door-carried abutment member 24 may comprise any suitable compressible member and, as shown, is in the form of a rubber disc 24a housed and mounted in a flared annular collar 2% which has an attachment flange secured to the inner face of the door.

Operation In operation, the opening of the door D, through riding engagement of the retaining roller l1 upon camming plate I9 swings the lever to the extended dead center position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the tension springs M holding the lever plate in such dead center or projected position. In this connection a depending stop lug lild may be provided at the outer end of plate 10b of the bracket. Simultaneously with the opening of the door, the piston rod 23 is protracted to the full line position shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

To close the door, it is only necessary to forcibly swing the same towards closed position and regardless of the amount of force used, slamming and production of any appreciable noise is prevented through the combinative effect of my apparatus.

The door, as it approaches closed position, first engages the compressible striker disc l6 at its marginal edge, momentarily checking the violence of the door swinging and instantaneously tripping lever l I and simultaneously engaging the thrustapplying piston rod 23 with the cushioning abut: ment 2411 on the door. The door is then forced into closed position by the power of the two tension springs I4, the roller 11 being disposed outwardly of the free edge of the door and in camming engagement through roller action with the cam plate I9. In the controlled closing of the door, the power of the springs M is resisted by the dash pot mechanism to the end that the door is moved slowly but positively into abutment with the door stop S, being at its free por-" tion, interposed with no play possible, between the closing roller l1 and the thrust-applying plunger rod 23. Violent impact or shock is quickly and almost noiselessly cushioned by the initial striking of the free edge of the door against the striker disc 6 with the almost simultaneous air cushioning of the impact through abutment of the thrust-applying rod 23 with the compressible abutment member 25a mounted on the inner face of the door.

In the operation of my apparatus, the swinging of the door-engaging and closing lever H isf smooth, silent and uniform due to its mounting and to the uniform application of the spring power applied to points spaced from both upper and lower sides of the lever plate ll. With this improved construction, simplification of parts is effected and a high efiiciency is obtained with a lever pivoted to only one of a pair of arms and constructed from a single rather than a double spaced plate of material.

The cooperation of the closing roller I! with the inclined or angled camming plate [9 is of high importance since it progressively, through constant rolling action applies closing force to the free end of the door. With the plate l9 properly adjusted there is no impact, blow or force upon the tripping of lever II or any subsequent snapping due to the rolling action and the proper angulation of the camming plate relative to the positioning of the plunger of the dash pot and the relative positioning of the striker disc I6.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a simplified and highly efficient apparatus for checking the forceful closing or slamming of a hinge door and substantially eliminating noise during the entire closing operation as well as for positively closing the door after it has been swung to a predetermined position in relation to the door jamb.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

In apparatus for completing the closing of a hinged door, a bifurcated supporting bracket mounted on a door-way adjacent the jamb hav ing a pair of outwardly extending, spaced horizontal arms, a substantially arcuate lever in the form of a heavy flat plate intermediately pivoted in said bracket between the outer ends of said arm for swinging movement on a vertical axis, a striker element mounted on the inner end of said lever plate and partially disposed in the line of travel of the free edge of the door during the near-closing movement thereof, a pair of horizontally extending, parallel, tensioned coil springs anchored at their inner ends to the arms of said bracket at vertically aligned points disposed inwardly of the fulcrum of said lever and having their outer ends connected with said lever plate at vertically aligned points disposed outwardly of the fulcrum of said lever and adapted to normally hold said lever in outwardly projecting, over-dead center position when the door is opened and in inwardly swung over-dead center position when the door is closed, said two springs stabilizing strains during operation of the mechanism at 6 opposite sides of said lever plate during operation, a door-engaging and door-closing roller pivotally connected with the outer end of said lever for rotation on a vertical axis and positioned beyond the path of said door in closing and adapted to be disposed in overlapped relation with the outside of said door when said lever is tripped from one side of dead center position whereby said springs act to cause said lever to close the door, and a roller-engaging rider plate attached to the outer surface of the door adjacent the free edge thereof and extending in inclined relation to the outer surface of the door from the free edge of the door inwardly thereof for engaging said roller and causing riding action of said roller thereon to prevent snap action and noise in the operation of the device. said rider plate having a free end adjacent the free edge of the door and an attachment end disposed inwardly thereof and being constructed from material which may be bent with force applied to adjust the inclined angu1a tion thereof with respect to the outer surface of the door.

HARRY N. HOLM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 911,074 Robinson et a1 Feb. 2, 1909 967,394 Laport Aug. 16, 1910 1,335,958 Farr Apr. 6, 1920 1,661,164 Brafi' et al Mar. 6. 1928 1,966,956 Dunn July 17, 1934 2,422,771 Blum June 24, 1947 

